2031 Olympics - Surprise Pirate Attack!
The Swordfish - Gallery This sweeping hallway serves as art gallery, view station for the wonders of space beyond, and entrance into the luxurious rooms provided by this craft. The same smooth white material, the one that looks like stone but isn't quite, is the basis of construction and decoration here, but by no means the full spectrum. Tapestries, drapes, and curtains cover those walls not decorated by relief murals, stretching between the doors leading to the private rooms. Luxuriously cushioned benches dot the walkway, and platforms holding statues of various toga-wearing species, urns, and other displays are placed at regular intervals. One end of the hallway, wide windows replace the tapestries, allowing a view of the void beyond. The Swordfish's routes are generally designed to stay in those areas of the great beyond that have the best scenery as much as possible. With all this expensive artwork around, it would be pretty unfortunate if a fight broke out here. A lobby has been set up within the gallery to host a special event--an auction! Alien races of all shapes and sizes are gathered, sitting, standing, or levitating as they might prefer. And the item being auctioned? A lense! Up in the front row is Galvatron, who immediately bids, "Fifty-thousand Shanix!" for the item. There's a gasp from the crowd--Shanix has a pretty high exchange rate across the galaxy. For the time being, Galvatron is tolerating the presence of Hinder under his seat. Slag has arrived. "Oh, a lens. That would be BLAM, right up Perceptor's alley!" Warpath says. Such an item doesn't really interest him. But if something in the auction queue explodes or makes other things explode, Warpath has brought a considerable amount of credits in order to outbid everybody else for it. Hinder is being as quiet and still as she can, knowing that Galvatron was being nice when he brought her along. She's learning a LOT from this excursion so maybe it's been worth it. Shanix. Very valuable form of currency. Slag shrugs, sitting near but not quite with the other Autobots. He doesn't look so impressed - "Why him Galvytron want broken camera? What so special about it?" he sounds ever more skeptical than usual. The ever curious Dinobot, Swoop has decided to check out this 'Ock-Shun'. Flying in he perches on one of the seats. "What so spec-shul about peice of glass?" Swoop asks, seeming as confused as Slag. How quaint it feels to be at an auction. Perceptor sits three rows in front of Warpath, and overhears the colourful minibot. He holds a paddle with the Autobot symbol on it. Somehow he managed to convince Jetfire to authorise his use of Autobot State funds in this auction. Given the gravity of the situation, it was a short conversation and he is extremely capable of exercising judgement in this matter. Raising his right hand, and the paddle, he enunciates clearly, "Fifty-five thousand Shanix." Galvatron peers over his shoulder at Perceptor and sneers. "You don't have that much money!" Then, the Captain of the Swordfish, who is presumably present to replace the lense that was destroyed in his own ship, bids, "Seventy-thousand Shanix!" Galvatron makes an annoyed face, but doesn't re-bid this time, and angrily taps his armrests. Warpath doesn't want to up the bid any higher. That would only make it harder for Perceptor to match the bids. He turns and looks over at the Dinobots. "Well, well," he says, "Are you planning on BOOM, picking up some things that go POW?" Slag looks towards Swoop, "Why they bid shanks? They don't know us dinobots deal out shanks all the time!" he starts to laugh, this startling grating sound, "See? Me Slag even make joke!" he says a little more boisterously than a typical Autobot might, but then again he's not a typical Autobot. Robot Pteranodon says, "Me thinks Aliens use Shanks to get what they want, like we Dinobots do." Swoop replies, sounding honest as he answers to Slag's joke." Hinder peeks her head out from under Galvatron's seat and toward the stage and the lens. Maybe she can save Galvatron some money by sneaking over and taking the thing instead of trying tpay money for it? Perceptor looks over at the Captain of the Swordfish, and is content to leave it at that, for now. The owner of the Swordfish he could accept losing out to, but not Galvatron. Still, he begins calculations for how best to win this without spending too much of the Autobot treasury. If only Galvatron's thinking fit into normal patterns. Turning around, he gestures to Warpath, "What were you planning on bidding for today, Warpath?" My, he does seem casual about it. Galvatron taps his chin, agitated. The announcer declares, "Going once, going twice..." Then finally Galvatron says, "90,000 Shanix!" as he raises his card. "90,000 Shanix!?" the announcer blurts out. "Er, well, yes. 90,000 Shanix to Galvatron. Do I hear a counter-bid?..." Warpath chuckles. "Why, I'm after anything that goes BOOM," he replies, "If I can get something that propels shells faster and harder, then POW, that's what I want!" He glances over at Galvatron and then Perceptor again. Slag calls out, "Me Slag can do it in three shanks!" Robot Pteranodon says, "Might need more shanks if Galvatron get more active."" Perceptor raises his optical ridge slightly, looking over at the Decepticon, while his body is still positioned to talk to Warpath. "90,000 Shanix. It will take many stolen energon cubes to equal that sum. But I cannot permit Galvatron to win this auction." Raising his hand again, Perceptor bids, "90,500 Shanix," the minimum he can raise the bid by. Galvatron snarls in displeasure. Clearly the Autobots are determined to outbid him! He takes out a datapad, accessing the Empire's funds. He frowns. The expenditures of restoring Cybertron have taken their toll on their funds, but perhaps there's a way he can save some money?... He stands, and angrily stomps out of the auction hall. "Enjoy your FLEETING victory, Autobots!" Galvatron snarls as he departs. Meanwhile, the Captain of the Swordfish is scratching behind his head, looking awkward. It seems he isn't sure how to top that bid, either. Hinder cranes her neck to look up at Galvatron as he stomps out of the auction hall, then skitters after him, not wanting to be left behind with all of the big stompy Autobots. Galvatron says, "Hinder. Remain here. I have something planned." Hinder abruptly stops in the middle of the aisle, looks around in what might be confusion, then slinks back over to the seat Galvatron just vacated as if chastised. Jetfire will not be pleased at the sum it cost, but hopefully he will appreciate that the benefits of such a powerful lense, and more importantly, the benefit of keeping it out of the hands of Galvatron. Still, he has to wait for it to close on that item. If he were human, Perceptor would be sweating, and feeling a bit nervous about the amount he's committed. "Oh, this is one of the few times where the difference between winning and losing is marginal at best." Warpath would be grinning from audio to audio if he had a mouth. Galvatron's abrupt exit definitely takes a lot of the tension out of the room, at least as far as the minibot can tell. Robot Pteranodon says, "Me, Swoop, No sure should let him, Galvatron, leave like that." Swoop says as he watches the purple Decepticon storm out. On the other hand, it could mean another fight and that'd make up for the lack of action here." Slag shrugs, "Me Slag see him Glavytron stomp off like Wheelie when him not allowed to stay up late. He come back soon with bunch of 'ceptycons and try to take stuff. Me and Swoop be ready." he nods sagely, drawing his blazing sword for emphasis. Fortress Maximus has arrived. The announcer smiles as no one else challenges the bid! "Excellent! 90,500 Shanix to the Autobot! Going once, going twice... sold! Enjoy your... whatever this lense is for!" But then... KABOOM! There's an explosion in the auction house, and it appears that the hull has been breached! As the smoke clears, it appears that pirates are streaming in through a boarding tube! "ARR, we be here for the lense! Give it to us, and no one be harmed!" their leader says, a cyborg humanoid with a cybernetic arm and leg. As one might expect, the auction-goers scream in terror and flee out the nearest exit! You drop Pirate Horde. Pirate Horde Holy crap! It's a veritable swarm of pirates from all over the galaxy! Very few of them are of the same species, use the same armor or even the same weapons--it's like the worst of the worst of every alien race in the known universe. At the head of the pirates is some sort of humanoid cyborg captain, with a mechanical arm and a mechanical leg, holding a massive cutlass in one hand. Hinder yeeks! and cringes further under the vacant seat when something explodes nearby and the place is suddenly filled with noise and chaos. Slag looks over at Swoop and *blinks* - "Me Slag ask if they're /serious/?" he says, amused. Robot Pteranodon says, "Me, Swoop, think either they serious, or forgot where Costume Party was."" "OH BLAM, HELL NO!" Warpath says, "You ain't gettin' our hard-bid lens!" He fires a shot from his chest-mounted tank barrel. "Git outta here before I POW, do a number on the lot of ya!" He shakes his fist at the pirates. "C'mon dinobuddies! I know you can take these Pirates and show 'em who's boss!" Combat: Warpath misses Pirate Horde with his BLAM! ZAM! POW! (Laser) attack! Perceptor turns around to see the pirates emerge through the doors, apparently intent on taking the lens that currently sits on display near the podium. He closes his optical sensors a moment, preparing himself, and he fires his light cannon. But he does not fire at the pirates, no, instead, he fires at the lens that he has just bought. They want the lens. Galvatron wants the lens. Without it, they will have nothing here to fight for, and it is, as of now, Autobot property. While it pains him to destroy something they had just purchased, his primary goal was to ensure it stayed out of nefarious hands. His secondary goal was to get it for the Autobots. The lens shatters into pieces as Perceptor fires upon it! But something odd happens! A mysterious voice booms from out of nowhere, "7 OF 12. THE FEAST HAS BEGUN." The pirates are shocked to see what happened to the lens, and they're just as shocked by the voice! But nevertheless, they recover, and the Captain roars, "YOU JUST BLEW UP OUR PAYDAY, YE SCALLYWAGS! Kill 'em all, the men, the women, and the spawnlings! SPARE NOBODY!" And the pirates go berserk, charging into the Autobots and slashing and stabbing! Combat: Galvatron strikes Perceptor with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Perceptor's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Galvatron strikes Warpath with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Robot Pteranodon with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Robot Pteranodon looks to whereever the voice comes from. "Feast? Feast good. Me, Swoop, Hungry!" He says anf then looks to the pirates. "But can settle for those in silly costumes!" Swoop says as he takes to the air and flies into the pirate horde, right as they slash at him, and things start to get hazy... Combat: Robot Pteranodon 's Ram attack on Pirate Horde goes wild! Combat: Robot Pteranodon misses himself with his Ram attack! "They're BOOM, playing for keeps," Warpath comments, as he's slashed at by several Pirates' weapons. "Well, BLAM, so are we!" His cannon aims at the Pirates again. Maybe this time the scalawags will scatter! Hinder does NOT like the sound of that booming voice. She no longer really cares what idea Galvatron had, she just wants to leave this place. So she skitters and scurries along underneath the chairs that have managed to not get knocked over in the ruckus, trying to find a way out. In her decidedly crooked path, she's not paying attention and has inadverdently steered herself straight toward Warpath and Perceptor. Combat: Warpath strikes Pirate Horde with his POW! (Disruptor) attack! Perceptor takes note of the numerical value, not yet understanding its meaning. It seems that these are no mere cutthroats and brigands, but murderers too. They have nothing to gain, yet they want to slaughter innocent lives. "You will not harm these people." Perceptor steps out in front of a huddled group of humans and other decidedly flesh-like creatures. "Leave now, or I will have to use force." Combat: Perceptor sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to steady himself. Pass The pirates don't appear to care much about Perceptor's threats! "Ye are the one who destroyed the lense, we've the greatest grievance with YOU, that is for certain!" the pirate declares, and he levels his cutlass at the Autobot scientist. "Get him, my boys! Stomp that little fool into the ground, and show 'im what 'appens to those who get in our way!" And though one of their number is felled by one of Warpath's rounds, the rest holler and charge right for Perceptor! Combat: Galvatron strikes Perceptor with Pirate Horde's Gang Up attack! Hinder is practically at Perceptor's feet when the horde of pirates charge toward him. She yeeks! and then jumps at the ankles of the closest one, hoping that she can bite and claw her way out of this mess. (Because clearly, her sense of direction has failed her.) Combat: Hinder strikes Pirate Horde with her ankle chomp attack! Robot Pteranodon barely misses slamming into the wall and pulls away. He transforms and looks to the Pirates. "So, want to play with swords? Me, Swoop, have sword too!" He says and pulls out his Thermal Sword. Swoop jumps up as his body folds and converts into his Pteranodon mode. Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Swoop strikes Pirate Horde with his Thermal Sword attack! Perceptor warned them. He gave them the opportunity to withdraw peaceably. They refused and swarmed him, climbing onto his limbs, seeming more like locusts than men. "Ahhh, get off me!" He reaches for them, trying to pick them off, butting their heads together, doing whatever he can to get some distance. But he tries to use non-lethal force, as they are sentient, however misguided, beings. Combat: Perceptor misses Pirate Horde with his Cybertronian Wrestling (Ruckus) attack! "No, no! KAZOW, KAPLOW!" Warpath shouts, "No ganging up on the Scientist! No ganging up on anybody! And I ZOOM, mean it!" He fires at the Pirates again. Combat: Warpath misses Pirate Horde with his KAZAP! (Laser) attack! One of the pirates, a tentacle monster, is run through by Swoop's sword! "YEARRGH" it cries out before deflating into a quivering mess on the floor. Probably for the best, anyway. Another pirate hobbles around, yelling in pain as some sort of ferret clamped itself to his leg! "This is gettin' interesting, boys! Light 'em up!" the Captain says, and the pirates whip out their various blunderbusses and pistols and begin spraying a mulititude of munitions in every direction! Combat: Galvatron strikes Perceptor with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: Galvatron misses Swoop with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Hinder with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Hinder's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Galvatron strikes Warpath with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: Warpath has been temporarily incapacitated. Grimlock has arrived. Swoop jumps out of the way of the silly looking gun. "Must try harder then that, if wan't to hit me, Swoop!" He luaghs, even though his Autobot allies got hit. "Might want stand back! Me going to show Pirates real fire power!" He says and fires off a missile at the group of Pirates. Combat: Swoop strikes Pirate Horde with his Missile attack! \Perceptor's external sensors flicker. He reaches out with his hands as his equilibrium circuits seem to be out as well. He tries in vain to steady himself, stumbling and succumbing to a number of attacks by the pirates, but he tries to see through the haze, spending a moment to gather his thoughts and as much data about his surroundings as his sensors will presently allow. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to aim his next attack. "HEY. HEY. What all this noise 'bout!?" And here comes Grimlock! Really, he's not annoyed at the noise so much as the fact that he's not the one causing it! He grunts, rounding a corner to find himself staring at an ongoing fracas! "Hey! You Swoop!" he points at the bombadier as he strides through the room, "Tell me Grimlock what happen!" he commands- even as he idly grabs at one of the pirates, attempting to heave him across the room. Combat: Grimlock strikes Pirate Horde with his Dismissive Toss! (Punch) attack! Hinder yelps as something hits her REALLY hard and knocks her off of the one pirate's ankle. She skitters sideways away from the pirate, unable to really make sense of where she's at while all of her systems are screaming error messages at her. Unbeknownst to her, the solid surface she just bumped into is Perceptor's foot. Combat: Hinder takes extra time to steady herself. Pass Warpath keels over! Something knocked him right out and he topples to the ground, uttering a "blum" sound as he hits the floor. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Warpath has 'skipped' his action for this round. Several pirates are blasted into the air, screaming, by Swoop's missile, and another pirate is picked up by Grimlock and heaved right back into his fellows, sending several more tumbling down! "Yar! They got a big one helpin' 'em now!" the cyborg pirate captain declares, pointing his cutlass at Grimlock! "Gang up on 'im, boys, he can't be that tough!" And the pirates swarm Grimlock en masse, kicking and punching and stabbing! Combat: Galvatron strikes Grimlock with Pirate Horde's Gang Up attack! Galvatron says, "Oh, dear, I *just* learned of the pirate attack, Hinder. They didn't steal the lense, did they?..." His optics now clear, Perceptor recognises the sight of the DInobot Commander, "Grimlock, these beings must be detained. They have endangered these people and for reasons I that would take far too long to describe, they owe us a great deal of money." Then, he looks down, seeing the little Hinder at his feet. Ordinarily, he'd deal with her, but for now, he has bigger weasels to worry about. Locking onto the lead Pirate, he modulates his light cannon to emit a ray that should give him one monumental headache, and then he makes his way towards the fallen Warpath, stepping right over Hinder, "Excuse me." Swoop Looks over as his leader Grimlock shows up and demands to know whats going on. "Some thign called Ock-Shun, had a peice of a glass. Galvytron wanted it, but him, Perceptor out bid him promising to Shank alot of people. Then Silly look humanoids attack, and Perceptor destory glass. Voice say something about feast, but me, Swoop, no see food anywhere." The Bombadier explains to the best of his ability as he slashes at the pirate horde once more with his thermal sword. Combat: Swoop strikes Pirate Horde with his Thermal Sword attack! Combat: Perceptor's Migraine Headache attack on Pirate Horde goes wild! Combat: Perceptor misses Swoop with his Migraine Headache attack! Surgeon-General Hook says, "Lens? Is it anything that *I* might be interested in, milord?" Galvatron says, "*I* was interested in it, which is all that matters!" Grimlock 's optic visor goes wide as the pirates rush him- surprised perhaps at their bravery, or the thought that they could actually hurt him! Still, he's piled upon, daggers and cutlasses *clink!*-ing off his armor, carving chunks out in places...until: "RARGH!" Grimlock shakes the aliens off of him- and brings out his own sword in turn, at which point he begins to hack away, swinging the weapon in wide arcs, attempting to push them back. "Hn! You Perceptor need not start trouble!" he says, and then pushes through, attempting to get closer to the other Autobots. "Me Grimlock say stick together! Us need be close so them not get us in back!" as if to prove his point, Grimlock reaches back and divests himself of 'passenger,'- tossing the guy away carelessly! Combat: Grimlock strikes Pirate Horde with his Energo Sword attack! Surgeon-General Hook says, "Then it shall be yours. Surely, we can negotiate with the, did you mention pirates?" Hinder shakes herself off, still a bit discombobulated from whatever that pirate did, then looks around. Chaos still abounds, so she slinks backwards in hopes of finding a safe place to hide. Warpath tries moving. He groans a bit as his servos seize and creak. Combat: Warpath takes a moment to shake off the effects of the last attack. Galvatron says, "Eh, right. Negotiate with them. Hinder, are you there? What's happened, down there?" Hinder says, "Pirates! Pirates breaking everything!" Surgeon-General Hook says, "Ah, too bad, Galvatron. It would seem that the pirates have broken your lens. Oh well." Galvatron says, "What. WHAT!?!?!?!" Warpath's last pose: Warpath tries moving. He groans a bit as his servos seize and creak. Combat: Hinder takes extra time to steady herself. Pass The pirates are getting hacked to bits! In fact, their leader is starting to look a little bit worried! "Arrrr, maties, our retribution is starting to be more costly than it ought to be! Let's start headin' back to the boardin' tube, lest we all be slain!" They begin backing up slowly towards their boarding tube, firing shots from their various blunderbusses and whatnot as they back up carefully! Combat: Targetting Error: No target named 'grimlock swoop perceptor' Combat: Galvatron strikes Grimlock with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Swoop with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Swoop's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Galvatron strikes Perceptor with Pirate Horde's Blundering Blunderbusses Area attack! Perceptor opens up a panel on Warpath, and begins pulling wires, removing circuits, and re-wires the Autobot Warrior. Autobots are built with redundancies and enough extra programming that if injured, medics can make quick repairs without any new parts . . . most of the time. "Just sit right there Warparth, in another moment you'll be right as rain." But then he is struck by a blunderbuss. Oh, he does hope that doesn't affect his repairs. Combat: Perceptor quickly patches up some of Warpath's minor injuries. Swoop staggers back as he gets hit by one of those funny looking guns. "Silly guns, don't do much damage." Though the smoke from the black powder has obscured his optics some. "Me no think they should get away! They just hurt others as well!" Swoop says and fires off his other missile to try and cut off their escape. Combat: Swoop strikes Pirate Horde with his Missile attack! "Arg!" And Grimlock throws his arm up to shield himself from the worst of the salvo- and then, growling, he transforms! "Grr!" he says- and then as the Pirates retreat, Grimlock storms forward- putting his tyrannosaur bulk inbetween the pirates and the other Autobots- advancing on their escape tube! "Why you run 'way?" he taunts, grinning toothily, "Me Grimlock just GET HERE!" and with that, he opens up his mouth and spits out a stream of fire at the retreating lot! With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Pirate Horde with his Fire Breath attack! Warpath grunts and starts trying to get up after Perceptor fixes him. "BAM, thanks buddy!" he says to the Scientist. "Now, let's ZOOM, clean up this Pirate Mess!" Once he gets himself upright, he transforms and lets a shell fly. Warpath folds down into his awesome tank mode. Combat: Red Tank strikes Pirate Horde with his Conventional Shells attack! Hinder takes a moment to re-orient herself and sees that the Autobots are doing a far better job of dealing with the horde than she could. So she looks toward the stage where the lens had been on display during the auction. Maybe it's still up there and she can get it for Galvatron. She slinks, skitters, scrambles, and otherwise makes her way toward the stage. She doesn't know that Perceptor has already destroyed the lens. Sadly, Hinder will only find shards scattered around up on the stage, but then, perhaps those could be valuable? As for the pirates, they are getting absolutely mauled by the Autobots. Missiles and shells explode around them, and fire engulfs some of their number. The pirate captain says nothing this time, just cutting and slashing away at the Autobots along with his remaining men, desperate to stay alive! And then who should enter? GALVATRON. He doesn't even look at the pirates--his optics go right to the stage. "*No,*" he utters breathlessly. Some of the pirates look at Galvatron, tool, and there's a brief moment of... recognition? But then they go back to stabbing away. Combat: Galvatron strikes Robot T-Rex! with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Combat: Galvatron strikes Perceptor with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Perceptor's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Galvatron strikes Red Tank with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Red Tank's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Galvatron strikes Swoop with Pirate Horde's Cutthroat Cutlasses Area attack! Perceptor is hazy from this fight, but when his optics are functional, and right now, they seem to be operating near peak efficiency, there isn't a lot that he doesn't catch. And he notes that the Pirate before him recognises Galvatron. Playing on a hunch he concocted, he stops fighting and addresses Galvatron directly, "Lord Galvatron, you have been discovered. Knowing that you might be outbid, you set in motion a plan utilising the services of these, brigands, who would obtain the lens you coveted so much." He doesn't ask Galvatron to stop, he knows it would be a useless gesture. And he may be wrong, it's possible, but if he's right, he wanted Galvatron, the pirates, and everyone, Cybertronian or otherwise, in the room, to know it. Combat: Perceptor takes extra time to aim his next attack. "Huh what?" Grimlock says- he sweeps his tail around to knock the aggravating pirates away from him- and then he wheels around on Galvatron, fully knowing the greater threat when he sees one! "Why you Galvytron try to get whatever thing us fighting 'bout?" he asks, scratching at his thick skull. "Whatever it am, you no get it now! Haw haw haw!" Combat: Robot T-Rex! misses Pirate Horde with his Dismissive Tail Swipe! (Kick) attack! Apparently the Pirates didn't know what they were getting into, espeacilly now that there were two Dinobots in the mix. "You, Pirate's, swords barely nick my armor! My sword does much better!" He says and once again is set on reminding them of the heat of Swoop's flaming sword of Justice, and then he'll let Galvatron feel its heat for starting all this! Combat: Swoop misses Pirate Horde with his Thermal Sword attack! Combat: Red Tank strikes Pirate Horde with his Ram attack! Hinder reaches the stage and finds ... a shard of something glass-like. Is this the lens? She didn't originally get a good look, so she can't be sure. She bends and gently drops the shard into a storage compartment on her hip. She then turns to find a way out and sees ANOTHER lens-like shard. Uh... this could be bad. She picks that up as well, and sees ANOTHER. Oy vey. The pirates shrink away from the Autobots! Cornered, and continuing to take losses as Warpath rolls over some of them, the pirate Captain finally yells, "WE GIVE! We give up! We surrender! Arr, and if you let us go, we'll tell you who put us up to this!" Galvatron, meanwhile, levels a finger at Perceptor. "You'll have a devil of a time PROVING it..." Then he transforms into cannon mode, and for a moment it seems he's going to blast Perceptor before he adjusts his aim and blasts the pirate Captain instead, who instantly explodes in a burst of ash. "...NOW." Transforming back into robot mode, he snarls, "Be thankful I do not incinerate you in the same manner, Autobots!" The remaining pirates' jaws fall open, but they say nothing. For a moment, Perceptor thought Galvatron was going to do to him what was done to Starscream. He saw his life flash before his optics, and had he been human, would have turned white. But no, he was spared. He got it, he got it all, every word, recorded, with voice stress analysers. Proving Galvatron's guilt would not be hard at all, finding a court to rule on, and enforce it would be the problem. And then, a smile plays across Perceptor's mouth. "I am afraid Lord Galvatron, that this is yet another violation of the Decepticon-Autobot Non-Aggression Agreement." Yeah, he likes to play with fire, that one. Hinder keeps hastily gathering up glass shards, not sure which one is the lens and hoping that Galvatron will be able to tell. Her storage compartment is already full, so she finds a handy box to start putting them all in. Wow, she didn't realize the auction was going to have so many almost-identical pieces of glass in it. Robot T-Rex! blinks a bit as the pirate captain is incinerated- but soon he's glaring at Galvatron anyway. "Hn." he growls, sizing the Decepticon commander up with the gaze of a wary predator. As Perceptor speaks up, Grimlock looks over at HIM, at which point he growls: "Hnn. Me Grimlock think you Perceptor need shut up." he notes, and then looks back to Galvatron- for once, not immediately setting into a brawl! For now, at least. "You Perceptor get one of them glass thingies n' look at it n' do science n' find out why it 'portants." Swoop growls softly as he misses the fleeing pirates with his flaming sword of justice, but since they are surrendering, he guesses that's alright. Then his optics go wide as Galvatron vaporizes the Pirate Captain. "Him, Galvytron no needed to do that." Swoop says, not being a fan of killing people that are no longer a threat. He's about read to turn on the Decepticon leader, when he sees Grimlock holding his position. If Grimlock's not fighting, then Swoop knows better then to as well. The tank splits down the middle, then rises up. The treads separate into legs and arms pop out of the sides. The head comes out of the top of the tank. It's Warpath! Galvatron just smirks at Perceptor. "If you want to break the truce and face me, then feel free to do so. But I daresay that Rodimus Prime would not sacrifice even the few days remaining of the Olympics just so you act on your... heheh... 'hunch.'" He glances over at Hinder. Oh, good, she's keeping busy. "Well, now, do you have any other matters you want to cry about at me, or are you Autobots done?" "As a matter of fact . . ." Perceptor begins, but noting the look Grimlock gives him, he trails off without concluding his thoughts, a rarity for someone as verbose and pedantic as Perceptor. There isn't much to be gained by pursuing the matter anyway. Galvatron isn't immediately threatening anyone here, so if he wants to leave, he should be allowed to. Robot T-Rex! snorts a bit in Perceptor's general direction- and then he hmms, nodding approvingly at Swoop- finally, the dinobot transforms, glaring at Galvatron..."One more thing." And he reaches behind his back and produce a silver medal on a medallion for this year's Gladitorial Combat! "Me Grimlock just wanted to show off. This thingie say me Grimlock am better fighter! Haw haw haw!" What was that about taunting Galvatron again? Galvatron says, "Hinder, I trust you have retrieved what is left?..." Hinder finds what she HOPES is the last piece of glass and puts it in the box and starts dragging it off the side of the stage. Swoop says, "Of course you, Grimlock, Better fighter! Grimlock strongest their is!" Swoop says, his own Gold medal from the Autobot FFA is hanging around his neck." Hinder says, "...left? Um...yes?" Galvatron says, "Hn, well, I suppose that will have to do." Surgeon-General Hook says, "Are you going to glue it back together?" Galvatron glares daggers at Grimlock. "Hnnnnnhhh. Not good enough to beat Prime, though, WERE you? Because *I* beat him easily. But I think I'll take my leave of you backwards MORONS now. I have more important things to do. Come, Hinder! This ship is no longer suitable for my glorious presence!" And he begins to stomp out. Galvatron says, "I'd prefer to have it intact. But perhaps we can still salvage something from it." Warpath shows off his own gold medal in Sharpshooting to the Dinobots. He turns as Galvatron stomps out. "Well, BLAM, good riddance," he says, "Now, where were we?" Robot T-Rex! pauses as Galvatron brings up an entirely valid point. "Oh yeah? Well, uh. Me Grimlock say you am stupids!" he growls, putting his medal away, giving a grumble. "Hnn. Him gone now. That portant part." he nods, and then looks around. "...what did thems try steal 'gain? Big window?" Swoop says, "Galvytron wanted stupid peice of glass, till Perceptor smash it."" There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Grimlock grunts, and looks over at the scientist. "And WHY him smash it?" Swoop says, "Cause Galvytorn wanted it"" Combat: Your COMBAT flag has been cleared. Hinder may have faithfully and dutifully gathered every piece she could find, but there were a great many she could not find. With the busted up chairs, shrapnel, many pieces were left behind, one of which Perceptor picks up. "Galvatron desired the lens. When he was outbid, he sent those pirates to collect it as he could not due to the truce. Recognising that he would not cease in his attempts to procure it, and the danger to the civilians, I destroyed it." And he seems to be holding a rather large piece, "I cannot say for certain whether the shards will be of any use to him, but I can say that at best, he will have an incomplete lens." Hinder follows Galvatron as quickly as she can scrambling backwards and dragging the box along with her teeth. It's ... not very efficient. Grimlock huhs. "Seems lotsa work for stupid glass thing." he shrugs, and then pokes Perceptor in the chest. "Find out what thing do! Then you get make report. Me Grimlock leaving now!" he says- and off he goes!